Peytan Porter’s three-song album is available for purchase at Platinum Scissors Spa and Salon on Lumpkin Campground Road and Byrd’s Mini-Storage locations.

Everybody has a dream. Some people act on them while others simply sigh and wish it would come true.

But for 16 year-old Peytan Porter, the goal of becoming a country music superstar is one step closer to reality.

"The only places I've performed are the Moonshine Festival and churches, so I'm not getting very many performances outside of Dawson County," she said. "I've mostly been writing and playing different things, trying to figure out what artists and genres inspire me."

Porter, a familiar name to Dawson County residents and a staple at the annual Mountain Moonshine Festival, recently received the first shipment of her self-titled, limited play album.

She said she has been singing for "as long as she can remember" but has only been publically doing so for about five years.

Porter said she has been inspired by artists such as Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, but also writes her own lyrics and some of the music.

"I draw from real-life experiences when writing," she said. "It's hard for me to write things that I don't have a connection to, that I haven't been through myself, so I usually try and draw from different things people have done to me or for me."

While she has yet to send off any of the CDs, Porter did say she has sold more than 100 of the 1,000 she had made.

"We just got them in a couple of days ago," she said. "Next, we're going to try to send them to places like radio stations and labels."

While it isn't her first album, Porter said she's more excited about this one.

"Although my last album was a gospel one, which is near and dear to me, this album was professionally produced and we spent a lot of time and effort getting theseright and where we want it to be," she said.

While she acknowledges the challenges of making it in today's music industry, she hopes the album will "set her above just that girl from the small town trying to make it big."

"I don't want to be that person that people remember as wanting to be something big one day but treated everyone badly while doing it," she said. "I don't want people to support me for the wrong reasons.

"I try to go out of my way to be nice to people, and even if nothing comes out of these I want to be remembered for that."

Porter's three-song album is available for purchase at Platinum Scissors Spa and Salon on Lumpkin Campground Road and Byrd's Mini-Storage locations.